Clauses
and Phrases

To understand punctuation, it is helpful
to understand the difference between a phrase and a
clause.

I.A
phrase is a collection of words that may have nouns
or verbals, but it does not have a subject doing a verb. The
following are examples of phrases:

leaving behind the dog

smashing into a fence

before the first test

after the devastation

between ignorance and intelligence

broken into thousands of pieces

because of her glittering smile

In these examples above, you will find
nouns (dog, fence, test,
devastation, ignorance, intelligence, thousands, pieces).
You also have some verbals (leaving,
smashing), but in no case is
the noun functioning as a subject doing a predicate verb.
They are all phrases.

II. A
clause is a collection of words that has a subject that
is actively doing a verb. The following are examples of clauses:

since she laughs at diffident
men

I despise individuals of low character

when the saints go marching in

Obediah Simpson is uglier than
a rabid raccoon

because she smiled at him.

In the examples above, we find either
a noun or a pronoun that is asubject
(bold-print and red) attached to a predicate
verb (underlined and purple)
in each case:

since shelaughs
at diffident men

Idespise
individuals of low character

when the saintsgo marching in

Obediah Simpsonis uglier than a rabid
raccoon

becauseshesmiled
at him

III.
If the clause could stand by itself, and form a complete sentence
with punctuation, we call the clause an independent clause.
The following are independent clauses:

Idespise
individuals of low character

Obediah Simpsonisuglier than a rabid racoon

We could easily turn independent clauses
into complete sentences by adding appropriate punctuation
marks. We might say, "I despise individuals of low character."
Or we might write, "Obediah Simpson is uglier than a
rabid racoon!" We call them independent because
these types of clauses can stand independently by themselves,
without any extra words attached, and be complete sentences.

IV.Dependent
clauses have a subject doing
a verb, but they have a subordinate
conjunction placed in front of the clause. That subordinate
conjunction means that the clause can't stand independently
by itself and become a complete sentence. Instead, the dependent
clause is dependent upon another clause--it can't make
a complete sentence by itself, even though it has a subject
doing a verb. Here are some examples of dependent clauses:

since shelaughs
at diffident men

when the saintsgo
marching in

becauseshesmiled
at him

These clauses simply do not form complete
thoughts or sentences by themselves. Those subordinate
conjunctions--since,
when, and because--cause the listener to
expect some extra material. The thought
is incomplete. If
you walked up to a friend in the dorms and said, "since
she laughs at diffident men," and then walked away
without adding an independent clause, the friend would
be completely
baffled.

It's important to understand the difference
between phrases, dependent clauses, and independent clauses
because many punctuation marks--such as commas, semicolons,
and colons, require one or the other. Click
here to move to subordinate conjunctions to learn more.